In many companies that manufacture or use complex systems, electronic resources for those complex systems and their components, subsystems and parts (generally “elements” or “parts”) may be spread over a number of locations, databases and the like. In the context of an aerospace company, for example, suitable resources may include documents such as engineering diagrams, technical drawings, wiring diagrams, and other suitable documents. These system-related resources are often used throughout manufacturing and service of a complex system. And the distributed manner by which resources are maintained often requires a searcher to extensively search across a number of hosts to locate desired resources for a specific complex system or part, which may be time consuming, inefficient and costly.
Moreover, system-related documents are often created to be viewed in printed form. However, such documents are commonly stored in electronic form and viewed on a display device of a data processing system. As a result, the reader looks through different documents that may be on different types of media. This type of review may be more time-consuming than desired to find information about a complex system or part.
System-related documents for a complex system such as an aircraft may contain large amounts of information regarding the complex system and its parts, and the connections and relationships among the respective parts. The complexity of the system and the large amount of information often required to describe the system may increase not only the time required to study the documents, but the difficulty in comprehending the complex system and its parts. A user may not only require the time to review documents containing large amounts of information, but may also require the time and endure the difficulty of studying the information to understand the ways in which the complex system and its parts relate to each other.
Product life cycle managers are confronted with how to manage and share large amounts of system-related documents for a complex system amongst their organization efficiently and consistently. The multiple independent systems currently used often inhibit knowledge capture and collaboration, and reduce opportunities to improve and transform product offerings. Needed are ways to access product-related design, production and maintenance information, while accommodating a business climate that is made of global teams, complex products, cross-functional processes, and expanded markets. Challenges remain to provide tools to access life cycle data and information, and facilitate easier communication amongst those working on or with a product.
Therefore, it may be desirable to have a method and apparatus that takes into account at least some of the issues discussed above, as well as possibly other issues.